I’ve always enjoyed reading Mama blogs that give me an inside look into their new life with baby.  And I always planned to do one for myself one day so that I had something to look back upon later and think, Wow look at how things have changed, or haven’t changed. 

…And then I had a baby…

And every day since Isaac’s birth has been different.  There is absolutely no schedule or routine happening, which at first was totally overwhelming for this Type-A personality.  But I finally got around to it yesterday!  And I’m excited to have a document of what it’s like to be a Stay-at-Home-Mama with my precious 3-and-a-half month old.

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This was Monday… I decided to start my 24-hour stint the previous night [Sunday] for simplicity’s sake.

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10:45 pm: First feeding of the night / Pump

As soon as Isaac starts to stir in his cosleeper next to our bed, I get up to heat a Lact-Aid while Ben un-swaddles him.  I sit up in bed to feed him so that he can get a full feeding and sleep for longer, and then Ben changes his diaper and re-swaddles him before passing back out next to me.  When I’m done, I sneak Isaac back into his cosleeper and make my way back to the kitchen…

Because Isaac has a bubble palate, he can’t remove all of my milk, which lowers my supply.  Since I’m typically taking care of him by myself during the day, I make it a point to pump at night to ensure that my supply doesn’t drop any more.  Shows on Hulu keep me company during my lonely night pump sessions.  Then I head back to the kitchen to store the milk.  I’m back in bed by about midnight.

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3:15 am: Second night feeding / Pump.

Same process, but this time I’m much more sleepy and Isaac takes a little longer.  I head back to bed around 4:30 am.

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6:45 am: Ben has been up for an hour, and Isaac lays sleeping in his cosleeper, which is a total surprise.  I get up and take the rare opportunity to put on my contacts, brush my hair and teeth, and make the bed.

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7:10 am: Isaac starts to stir, so I go over to him and give him big hugs and kisses, singing good morning to the sun and welcoming a new day.  He sleeps for longer stretches if he’s swaddled, so I un-swaddle him and take off the hat he wore since it was so chilly last night.

I change his clothes and diaper, then pass him to Ben for a second so that I can change and heat his next Lact-Aid.

7:20 am: Ben heads off to work and I sit down to feed Isaac.  Even with the supplemental nursing system, it still takes us 30-50 minutes to nurse.  This one happens to be a short feed.

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7:50 am: Isaac comes to the kitchen to make breakfast with me, and then I put him down to play and have tummy time while I eat [breakfast this morning was warmed-up homemade waffles with peanut butter and bananas… have I mentioned the fact that we got a waffle-maker for our 3rd wedding anniversary??].

8:15 am: The babe is totally over playtime and starts to fuss, so I put him in the Ergo and we head out for a walk.  We usually go walking at the park or with friends, but today I have an errand down at the shopping center down the street, so we head down there.  While I’m there, I pick up some veggies at the supermarket as well.  Isaac falls asleep on the walk back up the hill.

9:00 am: Back at home.  I try to put Isaac down on the bed to nap and fail miserably.  In just a few seconds he’s staring up at me with wide eyes.

9:15 am: I lay down and nurse him back to sleep for his first nap of the day… around 9:45 he finally falls asleep, so I get in the kitchen to clean the Lact-Aids and frantically cook some tofu and veggies in the cast-iron skillet for my lunch today.

I put the food on the side for later and then head to the nursery to try to pump while preparing my presentation for class tonight [oh, yeah, that’s right… I’m still in grad school, hah].

10:30 am: Just as I start working on my presentation, Isaac starts to cry.  I change him and then he sits in the kitchen while I try to clean up a little. 

10:50 am: Isaac has a meltdown.  I’m serious.  Look at this face:

Poor guy.  I nurse him and he feels much better…

11:30 am: We have sign time, I eat lunch, and then we shake out some wiggles.  Isaac starts to rub his eyes again.

11:45 am: Another diaper change, then I swaddle the little one and lay down for his second nap.  He falls asleep around 12:15 pm.  I always try to get at least one nap with him each day, so I fall asleep for about 20 minutes with him, then get up to finish my presentation, check emails, make formula [we make one batch every day], and clean and set up the next Lact-Aids.

2:00 pm: Another nurse session – we went to the beach yesterday so that may explain why Isaac is a bit more sleepy than usual.  He falls asleep on me and I don’t want to chance getting up and waking him, so I let him rest while I practice my presentation for grad school tonight.

3:00 pm: After his nap, Isaac has a diaper explosion, so we head to change another diaper.

Once he’s clean, I try to get a little workout in using him as a weight. He thinks it’s fun and giggles while I huff through squat-presses and twists with him, but he’s over it in about half an hour, so then we lay down and have more tummy and play time on the mat.

4:00 pm: Isaac’s hungry again – time for another nurse sesh.  This time I get a text from Ben halfway through saying he’s on his way home and the minutes drag on as I wait for him.  After Isaac nurses we head outside to see the garden and wait for Daddy.

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4:45 pm: Daddy’s home!!!  Isaac and I both light up when Ben pops his head out of the car to greet us.  I love watching Isaac with his Daddy – he’s always so excited!  Ben and I catch up while he changes his clothes.

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5:15 pm: The handoff.  I finally pass the babe back off to Ben, then rush around trying to get everything ready for class tonight.  Aside from grad school and presentation stuff, I need to bring the pump and bottles with me so that I can pump during the break and on the drive home.

I also take the spare moment I have to fill the Lact-Aids with formula for the next day so that I only need to clean them and prepare them when necessary (we only have three systems, which is why I need to clean them often).  Heat the next one up…

5:45 pm: Nurse again.  I make sure he gets a good nurse in so that he’ll take a bottle with Ben or my mom in a few hours.

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6:15 pm: Glammaw (my mom) grabs Isaac to burp and spend some quality time while I scarf down some leftovers, kiss everyone goodbye and rush out the door for class.

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7 pm to 10 pm: I sit in class for grad school and give a presentation, but all I can think of is my son.  The way I’m doing all of this so that it’ll hopefully allow us to live comfortably one day.  How I hope he knows how much I miss him while I’m away, and how I’d rather be bathing him and snuggling with my family instead.

10 pm: Back home… put away pumped milk, grab something to eat, brush my teeth and get ready for bed… warm up the next Lact-Aid, and then

10:30 pm: Nurse Isaac back to sleep and get in bed myself.

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…And the cycle begins all over again…

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